Hero
by aonalion
Summary: Judai and Edo are both heroes, whether they want to or not. They are alone together for a while, and they ponder the meaning of the word. Oneshot.


**A/N:** I actually wrote this a while ago, but never uploaded it. Hm, I don't know if I like it, it's not slash xD

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Edo and Judai was standing on the docks, watching the sun slowly set into the ocean. They had been walking together across the campus, talking, reminiscing about the past and foretelling the future. Now, they stood there silently side by side, at the end of the path, at the end of everything.

Edo was leaving tomorrow, all his belongings packed and his boat made ready.

Judai slowly sank down and sat on the edge of the docks, his feet dangling above the waves crashing against the cement. Edo allowed himself to do the same, completely relaxed in Judai's company; here he could be himself.

"I just wanted to say, you know… thank you." Edo said and turned his head towards Judai, who looked at him with curiosity and slight surprise. "For saving Saiou."

"Oh right." Judai said and turned towards the setting sun. "Don't mention it." he was quiet for a moment before he added; "You helped saving Johan."

"Hah, big help I was."

"No, really; thank you." Judai said and once again turned to face Edo, his face completely honest and serious.

"Do you love him?" Edo asked without showing any kind of emotion and received a shocked and slightly blushing Judai as a response. Judai broke off the eye contact and then turned his back against Edo, putting his legs up and hugging his knees. It took a second before Edo realized what he was doing, but then he mimicked Judai's movements and turned the other direction. They sat with their backs turned towards each other before leaning backwards, so their backs came to rest against each other. Both of them turned their heads up, watching the orange sky and the pink clouds floating by.

"I don't know." Judai finally said.

Edo scoffed, but at least he sounded honest.

"Do you love anybody?" Judai asked; his voice gentle.

"… No." Edo said after thinking honestly for a while. "But I do admire someone. A hero."

"I admire a hero too." Judai said. Edo could hear he was smiling.

"Really? Who's that?" Edo couldn't help but ask, his usual mocking tone seeping back into his voice.

"Do you have to ask? It's you of course. You're a hero."

"I am not a hero. If anything, I'm an anti-hero." Edo said, his voice becoming bitter and dark.

"Don't say that! You did help saving Johan after all."

"You _do_ love him." Judai didn't protest, so Edo continued. "I was dragged into the other dimension against my will, and then I wanted to save Echo from Amon, that's all. I trash-talked you and won over you in that duel, after which you couldn't see your cards. I won over Ryo, making him the monster he is… I failed at saving Echo and released Exodia in the process."

"_Was_. He's better now." Judai corrected him, referring to Ryo. "And thanks to you releasing Exodia, Yubel − in Johan's body − had to fight Amon, which weakened her so that I could finally defeat her." Judai was quiet for a moment, giving Edo some time to think over what he'd said. "Don't you see? Everything you do leads to something else, which leads to something else. And sometimes it's a good thing and other times it's something bad, but even bad things can lead to good things."

"You're blabbering."

"You know I'm right."

Edo was quiet. He _did_ know Judai was right, but he didn't want to admit it; it still felt wrong. In a way, he didn't _want_ to be a hero − there was too much pressure; you always had to do what was right and help your friends, watch their backs and sacrifice yourself for their sake. If you were an anti-hero, you could pretty much do whatever you want − play with the heroes when you felt like it and the bad guys when you got tired of being good.

Edo smiled slightly to himself and decided to share his thoughts with Judai.

"Doesn't it feel bad to be with the bad guys?" Judai asked after a long silence.

"Not really, it can be pretty funny."

"… You _are_ an anti-hero." Judai said, smiling bitterly.

"Told you." Edo said mockingly, but he didn't know if it was truly a victory. It didn't feel like one.

"But do you know what that means? It means that you can _choose_ to be a hero, you can _choose_ to do the right thing and be one of the good guys. You have greater power than an ordinary hero."

"So you're saying you don't have the ability to choose? Judai, please."

"I don't think I do. If I chose not to help my friends, my conscience would kill me. Anti-heroes apparently don't have a conscience."

"Wow, thanks."

Judai laughed a little at Edo's dry tone.

"Or maybe you can just choose not to listen to it."

"You can too. That would've been funny, you should've tried that."

"Haha no, I don't think so. I want to be a hero."

"I want to be an anti-hero."

"Hero." they both sighed at the same time, the word coming out dark and bitter, carrying all of their experiences from the Pro leagues, Duel Academy and the other dimension.


End file.
